There was a lot of chatter last week about then #6 Texas Tech leaving Lawrence with their first loss of the season. What no one seemed to think was that Tech would leave with a blow out win against the Jayhawks, in Lawrence. A blow out is exactly what happened in Memorial Stadium on Saturday.
The Red Raiders offense looked like a finely tuned Mercedes on Saturday afternoon. The engine was running smooth and all the parts were running with precision allowing the Tech offense to run at peak performance. It didn’t even need time to warm up. Just the turn of the key had that baby ready for action and it couldn’t be stopped.
The game started off looking like a shootout in the first quarter with Kansas answering the Red Raiders scoring drives to end the quarter tied at 14. The second quarter is where the game went down hill for the Hawks. The Red Raiders defense forced two turnovers on two of the three Kansas possessions in the second quarter. The third possession, the Jayhawks were forced to punt. The Red Raiders offense accomplished just the opposite as their opponent, scoring touchdowns on two of their three second quarter possessions before getting stopped by the half time whistle.
The third quarter produced more of the same for the Jayhawks. Three straight interceptions thrown by Todd Reesing allowed the Red Raider to put the game well out of reach for the Jayhawks. After the third quarter, this game was about pride for the Jayhawks. Well, at least showing a little pride.
A late touchdown in the fourth quarter by Jocques Crawford made the final score look better, but in the end, this was an embarrassing loss for the Kansas program as a whole.
The Kansas offense looked inept after the first three possessions of the game. Their inability to posses the ball throughout the game, allowed Tech to run away and hide with the win. In order to beat the Red Raiders, you must limit the amount of time their offense is on the field. With Tech scoring touchdown on 9 of 13 possessions, Kansas clearly failed at keeping the Tech offense off the field. Tech was also a scorching 69% on third down, which forced the Kansas defense to stay on the field.
The Kansas defense has really had the same story all year. Pass rush, pass rush, pass rush. Where is it? The Jayhawks can’t see to create pressure on a quarterback this year. Giving Graham Harrell all day long to throw the ball, allowed him to pick apart the Kansas secondary. Harrell had no trouble finding receivers on 386 yards passing and 5 touchdowns.
The Kansas defense was off the field for a total of 5:26 in the second half. If Kansas is going to even get bowl eligible, which is unbelievable given the expectations before the season, they will have to fix this problem. Turnovers on offense and not getting stops on third down have been huge factors as to why the Jayhawks are sitting at 5-3 with tough games ahead.
Kansas State, @ Nebraska, Texas, and Missouri in Arrowhead all loom large for the Jayhawks. As it looks today, finishing 7-5 might be wishing too much. Realistically, this Jayhawks team might be finishing 6-6 for the year, which in my opinion, would be devastating coming off of an 11-1 season last year. Lose to Kansas State Saturday, and this team might not make it to a bowl.
Shiver
